ICC to sign contract with BCCI over IPL

Cricket's world body would sign an agreement with the Indian board to protect the international cricket schedule.

Written by Indo-Asian News Service

Read Time: 1 mins

Melbourne:

The International Cricket Council (ICL) will sign a contract with the Indian board, which owns the Indian Premier League (IPL), to protect international cricket schedule.

"The contract claims that the IPL must respect the international programme and reject any player that does not have board clearance to compete in the competition," according to a report in The Australian.

This includes players who have retired for up to two years, a clause The International Players Association chief executive Tim May says will be strongly contested by player associations around the world.

May claims that attempts by the ICC or Test countries to prevent cricketers from retiring to play in the IPL could lead to court action.

"That's an obvious concern," May was quoted as saying.

"It is up to a player whether he wants to retire. If he does not want to accept a contract, he is free to go wherever he wants."

After this week's meeting in Dubai, ICC had stressed that the concept of nation-versus-nation cricket was the "lifeblood" of the game.

"This must always be given the highest possible priority," the ICC statement said.